C++ Frequently Questioned Answers

Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by dryicerx on Monday May 11, 2009 @02:37AM (#603095)

This.

Actually to add to your comment, it's not just good, but a MUST to have a set of good coding guidelines. The language is complex for a reason, you tell the Compiler EXACTLY what you want it to do, and this takes away overhead from the compiler trying to guess. It's a trade off between the convenience to the programmer to the performance of the application.

C++ isn't perfect, it's not meant for everything. But for fast, large, and complex systems, C++ is one of the best ways to go about it.

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Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by kowsik on Monday May 11, 2009 @04:04AM (#603164)

C++ is so not perfect and is definitely not for large scale development. Read this: http://labs.mudynamics.com/2007/07/23/writing-c-within-ruby/

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Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by dryicerx on Monday May 11, 2009 @10:21AM (#603504)

C++ is so not perfect and is definitely not for large scale development

The article you posted is a interesting concept, but it's unproven, and seems a bit silly.

Lets consider some "large scale development" in C++ that's proven, fast, stable, scalable, and here to stay. Not C, But C++

* Adobe Software * Autodesk Software * CERN's Data Analysis Software * Google Chrome * Firefox and Thunderbird * MySQL * Java HotSpot VM * Majority of the large scale, succesful games out there (Doom 3, WoW, etc, etc) * Etc

Tell me which one of those are not large scale development? I excluded things like Microsoft OS's (since their half and half mix of C and C++).

Lot of the even larger scale applications are C/Pascal because they've been around for much longer (ex *nix projects), and higher performance. C++ offers very much the same, except on top a richer set of features and keeps the coders a bit more sane. No one really uses PURE C++, it's always a mix of C C++, but it's one of the very few languages out there that match in performance to the original C.

(counter that with Java, if so tell me why only such a small number of VERY LARGE software systems is written in it, it's fast as C/C++ now right? right?). But don't counter it with C-Ruby... because, just don't.

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Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by nickpp on Monday May 11, 2009 @04:44AM (#603191)

Reality, however, contradicts you. C++ is one of the only languages out there PROVEN in the field by being used in thousands of large-scale developments.

Operating Systems, Office applications, Browsers, Search Engines, etc. - aren't these large scale?!

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Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by e4m on Monday May 11, 2009 @09:28AM (#603435)

You forgot that C++ is used in Jet Fighters, and other little inconsequential things such as that ;)

cite: http://www.research.att.com/~bs/JSF-AV-rules.pdf

Edit... not just any jet fighter, but the most complex jet fighter ever devised by the mind of mankind. That's why C++ kicks ass ;)

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Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by stonemetal on Monday May 11, 2009 @07:22AM (#603295)

Linux C, BSD C, really I can't think of a truly large stable system written in C++. There are plenty written in C.

Edit: Thanks, I didn't know there was a C++ OS out there. Though to be fair to C++ it hasn't been around as long nor been as stable as C (from C with classes to C with classes exceptions and templates.)

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Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by andrew1 on Monday May 11, 2009 @07:41AM (#603312)

Symbian OS is written in C++, excluding some internals of the kernel written in C/ARM assembly. I was told when I worked there (3-4 years ago) that the entire code base (including test code, variant code etc.) is on the order of 50 million lines of code. So definitely large. Stable? A matter of opinion.

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Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by eru on Monday May 11, 2009 @07:02AM (#603281)

Try Cobol. Or C. Or Assembler. Or Fortran. Those languages are also used in large projects since ages. But what does that tell us?

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Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by nickpp on Monday May 11, 2009 @07:14AM (#603288)

Tells us that they are mature, strong, proven programming languages and we should use them in large-scale developement UNLESS we have a better alternative, ALSO mature, strong and proven. Thankfully, we do: C++

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Re:C++ Frequently Questioned Answers by eru on Monday May 11, 2009 @10:02AM (#603483)

Your argument could be used to prove Java superior to C++, too.

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